I have had this brew since before Weyerbacher was ordered to remove it from based on a legal outcome. With this being said I really hope that they do re-release this brew again and from what I have read it sound like they will. This brew was poured into a chalice, had a nice dull golden color, somewhat cloudy with a nice sized white head that had great retention. The bubbles in the head where reminiscent of champagne and I think this is what lead to the minimal lacing. The aroma is nice, pale malt with a nice clove and slight banana scent ... some additional fruit aromas, green apple? Hops are there and mix very well. The malt flavor comes across first and then the hop presence sets in and seems to mix well with the carbonation as it hits the side and back of the tongue. Hopes have a nice bitterness and are much more pronounced here than in the nose. Flavors of clove and banana from the yeast are there and go very well with everything. Love to find out what hop(s) they have used in this one. Again this was a very good beer and I really hope and look forward to seeing it out in the market renamed in the future.

Pours a bright orange brown color with a dense tan head that settles into a light ring. Several shades darker than your typical BPA. The aroma is sweet and fruity. There is banana, apple, juicyfruit that goes along with some yeasty phenols, clove. Spot on for a BPA. The taste is more subdued and has more of a hoppy presence. While still sweet, it is more balanced against the bitter hops. There is still some yeasty flavors like banana and clove that remind you that this is a Belgian style brew but some hop presence that tell you that it was American made. The feel is light to moderate, fizzy and crisp. Finishes slightly bitter. An enjoyable BPA, a little off for the style but well made.

Bottle-review on a pour into a tulip glass. Gotta say I was pretty surprised and satisfied with this beer!

Really nice appearance. Beer pours a hazy golden-brown. It's not completely opaque, but I can't see much through it. There's a bit of bubbling carbonation running along the sides of the glass. An initial 2 finger white, soft, foamy head fades and retains around a solid finger. There's a nice bubbly top on the surface, and tons of thick lacing hangs on sheets along the walls of the glass.

Very light aroma. Hints of biscuity malt, honey and slightly sweet raisiny fruits. Not particularly hoppy in any way.

This beer is very light and refreshing. It is slightly tart, with a good tasty, crispy graininess and slightly sweet, honeylike maltiness. There's a hint of piney hops that was somewhat unexpected in this style of beer. Feel has a bit of stickiness to it, but it is well-balanced by a high level of carbonation that keeps it light and crisp.

Drinkability is definitely high. ABV is low enough to enjoy alone, and it pairs nicely with food.

A) Pours with a nice active white creamy head. Settles after a bit. Lacing is ultra-sticky. Hazy body. Copper in color.S) Powerful aroma. Floral hop notes and light notes of sweet fruit mixed with some subtle earthiness.T) A nice balance up front of malt sweet and floral notes. Caramel and toffee with mellow semi-sweet berries. Then moves to an earthy nuttiness while holding the caramel and toffee sweetness. Finishes with the malt and just a nip of a hop bite, subtle, but pleasant. Lingering in the aftertaste is a well balanced malt and hop mixture.M) Fizzy all over the tongue. Medium body. Slight, barely noticeable, residue / tannin feel in the finish.D) A well crafted brew. I would definitely drink another and another...

Pours from the tap to a brilliant orange-red color with thick off white head tha lingers to mid-glass with okay lacing. Nose is muted, but what is there is not the hoppy citrus I expect from an IPA, but does have the bread scents of a good pale ale. Mouthfeel fairly full and a little chewy, and the aste pciks up the bread and yeast malts of the nose, with just a hint of hops. Finish smooth and fairly long. Not a bad beer at all.

A: Burnt orange color, crystal clear, with a decent off-white head that remains in some fashion all the way to the last drop. Has the appearance of a thin beer without much body or flavor. Average carbonation.

S: Mild Belgiany aroma--yeasty, bready, clovey. Some slight hints of citrus hops [but not as strong as many others report]. Also a slight sweet, bubblegum aroma, but mostly yeasty/bready.

T: Sharp on the tongue up front. Balanced malty/bready sweetness with spicy and bitter finish. Some citrus/lemon peel notes toward the end. Most present is the earthy, bready character. Slight toffee/caramel flavors which get taken over by the citrus hops. Not overpowering, decently balanced and light. More flavor than appears up front. A bit more bitter on the finish than I would like, leaving somewhat of a tart, bitter taste in my mouth.

M: Definitely more body and various flavors going on that makes it interesting. A bit too sharp and bitter than I expected for this style, even if it's a pale ale. Carbonation is nice and refreshing.

D: Quite drinkable. Pretty well balanced, although slightly more bitter than expected. Alcohol is well hidden. Wish it went down a bit smoother, but enjoying it more as I drink it.

Overall I found this to be an interesting beer that kept me identifying more flavors and subtleties as I drank it. I enjoyed the earthy/bready character to the citrus bitterness and wish that balance was closer. But I definitely enjoyed this as a diversion from a typical pale ale as well as a "typical" Belgian (if one can say typical and Belgian in the same sentence). I didn't grade it as high as some primarily because of the bitter bite toward the end of each sip. This, coming from someone who is obsessed with IPAs.

Zotten is a darker shade of gold. It's a little hazy and has a bit of an orange tint with backlighting. A vanilla colored head covers the top and reaches nearly two fingers deep. It was very slow to dissipate and left sticky strands of lace lining the glass.

The nose good, though it is just a little underpowered. It kicks off with a bit of a sweet, citric scent. It smells like hop induced grapefruit and pineapple. Interesting. Belgian yeast quickly enters the mix and takes over the nose. Weyerbacher nailed that aspect. Pepper and light clove are noted. Alcohol isn't noticeable. For the style, it's pretty impressive. I like the citric hop twist. With a little more power, this would easily achieve the next highest score.

The flavor really delivers! There's definitely a citric hop element that's apparent from the first sip. Grapefruit and pineapple flavors are noted, and it has just enough of a bitter kick to really satisfy this guy. It's an excellent twist on the BPA style. Belgian yeast is very flavorful and well done. I'm always to see an American brewery get that right. There's a light spicy flavor that caps it off. Pepper and light clove are the strongest varieties. Alcohol is blended very well and doesn't have a strong presence. It finishes spicy and a little dry.

Zotten has a light body. It's smooth, but would benefit from a little more girth. Carbonation is active, but isn't distracting. Drinkability is very high. This is a really tasty Belgian Pale that goes down very easy. Unfortunately, I have only a single bottle. I regret not picking up more.

Weyerbacher did a really impressive job with Zotten. It's not often that you find American takes on Belgian styles that are such a success. I guess this one deserves a bit of a footnote. The hoppy flavor is very American, but adds a great deal to the overall flavor. I love that aspect of it. The nose could use a little more muscle and the more body would help, but those are small gripes. Zotten's a fantastic beer that's well worth a purchase.

This one's been in my fridge a while, thought today's the day... poured into a tulip.

A: Gentle pour yields a nice and creamy fine white head with good retention. Brew is a semi-cloudy red orange. Lacing is thick and layered

S: Nose is a trademark clovy Belgian spice and a hint of pear. Maybe some cane sugar sweetness. A little skunk as it warms.

T: Let this one warm a bit... opens spicy with a nice fruity maltiness, cloves in the middle that tickle the throat along with a taste of unripened green fruit. This fades into a citrus end which further dissipates into nothingness.

M: Light bodied and extremely coarse and bubbly. Watery in the mouth and finishes wet, with little to no aftertaste. Extremely clean.

D: Light body makes it very drinkable but the coarseness and carbonation is a little hard to take at times. As said, before, finishes very clean and that's a nice touch for a complex brew like this. Enjoyable and def. would try it again.

Zotten was a hazy amber in color that had a one finger off white head and quickly dissipated to a collar. It had a spicy, fruity aroma and tasted like zesty pears. Speaking of zest, Zotten seemed to have a slightly soapy note to the tongue, not really displeasing though. This beer was medium bodied and had plenty of carbonation, reasonably good drinkability. Not my favorite BSPA, but a good one. Besides, I tend to prefer the BSDA's.

Bottle: Poured a bright golden color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of dry hops with some nice light fruity ester and some grain is also noticeable. Taste is also a very nice mix between some cereal and dry hops with a light fruity touch in the finish - I very much appreciated the hops presence and this was somewhat reminiscent of DDC Dernière Volonté thought a notch below overall.

It arrives rose- gold in color, which is a hint of things to come. It smells like my wife's grandmother's house. Perume. Not bad but odd. The taste is slightly metallic, then strong floral hops. It has a nice malty backbone to round it out. Mouthfeel is soft and just a tad tingly. Drinkability isExcellent.

This brew is a hazy golden orange. A fluffy white head sits at a dense three fingers fingers or so for some time, never really fading. Patchy lacing is more than moderate in volume and extremely sticky.There's a good balance and complexity on the nose as fresh hops mix with a clean malt, rounded out by aromas of tart and sweet fruits, yeast and a slight peppery nip.Hops are pure and clean in the taste and the malt balances nicely with it. Also in play is plenty of a tart green apple note as well as light citrus, the ever-present yeast and the nipping spice. Rounding out the finish is an herbal, earthy flavor. There's a very nice character to this.The mouthfeel is at once both smooth and crisp with a light to moderate carbonation in a medium to full body.I'm not too familiar with the style just yet, and this one is certainly good enough to keep me interested.

A: The beer is a deep gold color, with a short white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is of Belgian yeast, spices, caramelized malts and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out spicy and a little fruity with flavors of pepper, coriander & citrus. Then a strong Belgian yeast breadiness and a hearty malt character come in. The hops presence is mild but complementary. The after-taste is slightly sweet and slightly spicy.

D: Tasty, goes down easily, not too filling, decent kick, good representation of style, I wasn't really sure what to expect with this beer but was pleasantly surprised to find that the spice content wasn't overdone and that this was a decent beer overall.

Wow this has to be one of the worst ideas in beer history. Trying to cross a pale ale with a Belgian and what you got is something that is a distant cousin to both. Instead of leveraging the style's strengths this beer doubles down on their worst attributes. An aroma that is pungent, a color taht is cloudy. A very hoppy tatse that fights like a strong ale. Not a fun beer and a true shame that it might discredit Weyerbacher's other great beers.

Aroma is rather subtle and even unremarkable. Not bad in any way, but the hints of peach/pear fruit, sweet spice and nutty yeast are just that--hints. Seems somewhat closed off, or muted...or maybe my sniffer ain't working well tonight...

The flavor totally and utterly hits its mark. A mellow but firm malt center offers a doughy foundation for fruits (apple, pear, peach) to leap off from, and the yeast is nutty and just slightly funky. There's a mineral vibe shrouding the flavor, in just the right measure where it feels earthy rather than metallic. Nuttiness, a light hop kiss and dessert-y spice linger in the enjoyably dry finish.

Light-to-medium body, and it fills the mouth with tiny bubbles, making for a springy, airy sensation, although there's also a nice bready roundness as well.

This actually outclasses Bruges Zot, which I found overrated, but which is of the same style and shares a conceptual link. It may not outclass all authentic Belgians in the style, but it can sure hold its own. Another Weyerbacher winner.

Pours hazy amber with a half inch head of tight bone. A solid skimcoat remained throughout the glass along with some decent ripped lacing.

Aromatics lead off with plenty of phenols, esters, and light spice. Bannanas, bubblegum, honey, orange pith, and earthy hops.

Medium bodied with a crisp, creamy mouthfeel.

Sweetish malt, light spice, and bannanas start the palate. Hints of cocoa, coriander, orange peel, and mint stems follow through. A substantial bitterness for the style works well with a spicy hop bite.

Finishes with honey-drizzeled, spice-dusted bannanas, and warming alcohol. Faintly numbing in the end.

Pretty aggresively hopped for a Belgian Pale, and theres a whallop of phenols here. The alcohol is a bit strong for a 6% brew.

T: Just like the nose with its yeast, bubblegum, and malt, but with some nice spice and dryness on the finish. Tasty.

M: Fairly light with a decent amount of smooth, subtle carbonation.

D: Quite sessionable for a yeasty Belgian style, as indicated by the relatively low ABV. Still, not what I'd call super refreshing.

Notes: I picked up a four-pack of these on sale for $5, and at that price this rivals the best value I've ever encountered for bottled beer. Now I wish I'd gotten more, as this is very solid stuff - as is pretty much everything I've had from Weyerbacher.

Review is from notes taken 11/2/2009. Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Appearance: Body pours a nice coppery, peachy color and comes with a huge 3 finger head that is slightly off-white and thick like a merengue, has nice retention and leaves a foamy web of thick lacing; body is mostly clear and shows moderate carbonation.

Taste: As mentioned above, the fruity taste is a bit sweet and tart (like the candy of the same name); interestingly enough, there is a mild grassy (and slightly metallic) hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste; well-balanced, flavors are not especially overly pronounced or big like some Belgian styles.

Mouthfeel: Moist and refreshing; leaves a sticky coating on the roof of the mouth.

Drinkability: Nice subdued flavors, refreshing mouthfeel with a very moderate ABV, I could drink this all day.

Hazed copper color with a finger thick light tan/off white head that dissipates to a thick ring and spotty film. Pleasant aroma of yeast and floral and citrus hops. Flavor is very rich, light, and complex. The floral, yeast and citrus notes dominate with little malt presence and linger with an earthy, citrus aftertaste. Creamy soft mouthfeel with high carbonation. Overall a nice balance of sweet (fruit and yeast) with spice and hop bitterness, an excellent summer beer that is great year round. Good job Weyerbacher.

Polished pumpkin with a lustrous luminescence when backlit with radiant morning sunshine. The incredibly creamy crown is more ecru than alabaster. It almost looks good enough to be called Belgianesque, something that rarely occurs with Belgian-style beer brewed in America. An attractive array of tattered lace graces the glass.

The aroma is pretty close to classic for the style. I used those words because this Belgian pale ale uses American hops (Centennial and Cascade). Their citrusiness takes a backseat to what smells like an incredibly estery yeast strain, though that's fine with me. Warming brings out even more boldness.

This is fantastic beer that reminds me of one of the all-time great ales in this corner of the country (or anywhere else for that matter). New Glarus Dancing Man Wheat is a kick-ass hefeweizen that uses American hops and does so in gobsmacking fashion. Zotten isn't quite that special, but it is a marvelous marriage of the Old World and the New World.

The mouthfeel is more than fine and has picture perfect carbonation that adds sparkliness to a flavor profile that is already as zippy and zesty as all get out. That said, no one who knows better would mistake it for having been brewed in Belgium.

Zotten is Belgian/Flemish for 'fools'. Anyone who loves Belgian-style beer that is insanely drinkable would be foolish not to seek this one out. I'm amazed at how many styles (from a multitude of countries) that Weyerbacher does well. Slam Dunkel and this beer are perfect examples.

Foggy honey-orange with a tan and sticky rise of dirty white foam.The nose is hit first with a lemon peel zestiness, along with hints of chamomile and rosewater. It turns doughier with notions of raisin bread. Hops bring a kaleidoscope of flowers.It begins bready, lighty toasty, lightly doughy. Some candied orange presents itself early on, then shuffles off to the background. Golden raisins, honey, and vanilla-caramel nougat step into its place. Yeast brings peppery, gingery spiciness, with hues of clove and allspice, as well as a discernible earthy, wet stone quality. Hops are big and brash, and bring pulpy, reedy, prairie grass and wildflowers, full of resonate bitterness and resinous chlorophyll, replete with the softer hues of lilac and rose petals.Medium bodied, with a fluffy, steady CO2, giving it an airy, but muscular feel. It's eminently drinkably, despite and due to its complexities. Best of both worlds. This is a gem.

Poured amber/orange, with a thin white head and no lace. Smelled of sour yeast-funk, lemon zest, and bittersweet dark fruit, like green raisins and prunes. The flavor did produce some maltiness, raisin, and lemon flavors, but it also produced warm biscuit and evolved to crisp dry finish. Pleasantly surprised after the aroma. The mouthfeel was thinner than expected, but silky and lightly carbonated. Decently sessionable.